


Eternity

by HolyVessel



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tales From Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Gen, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22081483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolyVessel/pseuds/HolyVessel
Summary: Jack had always thought that once Rhys died then he would too.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Borderlands or any associated character.
> 
> This idea popped into my head while on deployment. Enjoy!

Rhys groaned, wincing as he woke up. His body ached all over and he couldn’t exactly remember why. He raised his arm to rub the sleep out of his eyes and was confused when he couldn’t. Opening his eyes blearily he fully woke up as he realized that he was tied to a chair. Panicking he struggled against the bonds, but they were tied to tightly with actual good quality rope. The single bright light over his head made it so that he was unable to make out anything that was outside of the ring of light that it shed around him.   
Oh god, he had actually been kidnapped. Fiona and Sasha had always joked about how someone was going to nab him off the streets some day if he didn’t pay more attention but he thought they were joking! Not once did he think that it would actually happen to him! Through his panic he realized that Vaughn would know he was missing. Rhys had messaged the other man on his ECHO when he had left Moxxi’s and was headed home. Vaughn was probably already out looking for him. It was only a matter of time before he was found.

“What did you get into this time Rhysie-cakes?” Jack asked, his blue hologram flickering into existence as he looked around.   
After the fall of Helios and the realization that Jack would never get his body back, the CEO had begged to stay with Rhys. There was a moment, standing in the wreckage of Helios, where Rhys could have destroyed the megalomaniac. He had been about to crush his ECHOeye and be rid of Jack forever, but stopped when Jack said please. Rhys probably reckoned that he could count on one hand the amount of times that the CEO had said please in his entire life on one hand. The sincerity was what stopped him, the hopelessness in the other man’s voice. Rhys didn’t crush his eye that day. He let Jack stay and he honestly couldn’t say he regretted his decision. Sure the other man annoyed the fuck out of him sometimes, but he had also grown on Rhys too. Sasha, Fiona and Vaughn had all thought that he was crazy to keep the man in his head, but over time they had gotten used to him too. Now he was just a part of their everyday lives. 

“I-I dunno.” Rhys replied. He shook his head to clear it and hissed as pain blossomed through his senses.

“You’re bleeding.” Jack said, moving to stand behind him. A second later Rhys felt the familiar static feeling that he got whenever Jack tried to touch him. 

“You’re awake.” A voice called from the darkness. “Finally.”

“Who..whose there?” Rhys asked. 

“My name is Alexander and I represent the Dahl Corporation.” The man speaking stepped into the light so Rhys could see him. He was tall and wore a black suit. His blonde hair was slicked back and he had piercing blue eyes. 

“Dahl? What are those fucknuts doing back here?” Jack commented.

“The hell do you want?” Rhys asked.

“It has come to my attention that you are in possession of a vault key. My corporation is extremely interesting in acquiring it so I was sent to pick it up.”

“Sorry to burst you’re bubble there buddy, but the vault key I had was a fake.”

“How was it a fake if you were successfully able to open the Vault of the Traveler I believe it was? Do not lie to me Mr. Strongfork, you will not like the outcome.”

“We did open that vault, but not with the vault key. It was a fake.”

“You expect me to believe that the door just opened for you.”

Rhys remained silent. There was no way that he was going to reveal Gortys’s existence to this man. Alexander just sighed sufferingly and looked at him with contempt.

“Well, we’ll see how you feel about the subject in a little while. Remember Rhys, this could have gone much easier for you if you had just co-operated.” 

“The fuck does that mean?” Jack asked as they watched the smug man leave. 

Jack’s question was answered a moment later when two Brutes stepped into the light. Rhys gasped, the breath leaving his body when one of them punched him in the side. 

“Shit! Rhys!” Jack shouted helplessly as he watched the two men lay into his host. 

They were slow about it. One would land a blow and then step aside for the other to take his turn. They didn’t spend too much time working over Rhys’s abdomen, probably to avoid puncturing a lung if his ribs broke, but pulled no punches for the rest of his body. A particularly hard punch to the head knocked Rhys out and they stopped after that. Jack stared down at Rhys in horror, wishing he could do something to help. 

Sometime later he awoke with a gasp as cold water was thrown over him. Luckily he could still open both eyes and he saw that his lap was stained red with the blood that had dripped from his split lips. 

“Ready to talk yet?” Alexander asked in what Rhys was sure he considered a sweet tone.

“N-nothing to say. I don’t have a vault key!” Rhys said.

Alexander motioned to someone Rhys couldn’t see and a bandit came up out of the shadows with a baseball bat. Rhys’s eyes widened and he struggled fiercely against his bonds.

“How about now?”

“I told you! I don’t have a vault key! I don’t even know where to look for one!” 

Alexander nodded and Rhys screamed as the bandit slammed the bat into his knee. Pain radiated all the way up through his body and he pulled harshly at the ropes.

“Where is the key you used to open the Vault of the Traveler?”

“It broke! I don’t have it!” 

Rhys screamed again as the bat slammed into his other knee. It continued like this, Alexander asking questions and Rhys replying in kind. The bat continued to pummel into his body, making it harder and harder to focus. Jack popped up in front of Rhys and his mouth was moving but Rhys couldn’t make out what he was saying. There was a wave of intense pain as the bat hit his right shin. There was a loud crack and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.

When he came to, some time later, he was alone. The bloodied bat was lying on the floor in front of his chair and the sight of it was enough to make him throw up in his lap.

“J-jaaaaaaak.” Rhys called, struggling to form the syllables for the name. 

“I’m here Rhysie, I’m here.” Jack said, materializing right away. Rhys didn’t have the energy to lift his head, but he groaned in response. 

“Wh-what do I do?” Rhys asked slowly.

“I, uhhhhh, I dunno kiddo. You might have to tell them about Gortys.”

“Can’t”

“Rhys, if you don’t get out of here you’re gonna die kiddo. The others can protect her. They can handle bandits and this douche waffle Alexander looks like he’s never even held a gun before.”

Rhys let out a sob, tears starting to drip down his face. 

“Aww, geeze. Don’t cry kiddo.”

“Hurts.”

“I know. I know it hurts. It’s gonna be okay. Like you said, you’re friends are probably already looking for you.” 

Rhys didn’t reply. He just let himself be upset and listened to Jack trying to comfort him. He couldn’t give up Gortys. The little bot had been made specifically to open the Vault of the Traveler, she probably couldn’t open any others. Rhys would be damned if he handed her over for Dahl to exploit everything they could and then leave her a broken mess in some ditch. He just had to hold out and hope that he was rescued soon. 

The next day they had a doctor come take a look at him, probably not wanting him to die before they could get an answer out of him. Rhys tried to talk to her, but she steadfastly ignored him as she dressed his wounds and administered some Anshin to help heal the worst of the injuries. As soon as she was done Alexander came back, alone this time. 

“I’m tired of this Rhys. I want you to answer my questions.”

“I have been. I’m not lying to you.” Rhys replied tiredly. 

“Bullshit! I’ve tried being nice to you Rhys, but my patience is at an end.”

“This is being nice? Fuck, I’d hate to see you get serious.”

Rhys choked as Alexander’s hand whipped out and grabbed him by the throat. He squeezed hard and Rhys’s air supply was cut off. Rhys jerked harshly in the chair, trying to break free, but he couldn’t get away. His eyelids started to flutter as black spots appeared in his vision. Just as he thought he was about to pass out Alexander let go. Rhys coughed and gasped as he struggled to pull in as much air as he possibly could. Before he could fully catch his breath he was grabbed again. 

He continued to be choked, sometimes only able to pull in a few breaths before the hand clamped down again. This time Alexander didn’t ask any questions. He just stared down at Rhys with cold eyes and an emotionless face. As time went on Rhys was having a harder and harder time getting enough air in. The black spots of unconsciousness were constantly there and Rhys’s eyes were starting to roll back in his head. That time Alexander didn’t stop until Rhys had passed out. 

The days passed, each more horrible for Rhys than the last, and Rhys lost a little bit of hope with each day. Jack tried his best to keep his spirits up, but eventually Rhys became unresponsive to even him. 

One day, about two weeks after Rhys was taken if Jack’s calculations were correct, Jack phased his hologram into existence. The room looked strange. Jack had been able to wander around the room, seeing things that Rhys was unable to see due to the overhead light. All the tools they used to torture Rhys were gone and the door was wide open, revealing a stretch of desert outside. 

“Hey Rhysie, I think they left.” Jack said, staring out the open door and trying to figure out where they were. He startled when he realized that Rhys hadn’t replied. “Rhysie?”

Jack turned around and froze, an icy feeling flooding through him. Rhys sat slumped over in the chair, as he usually was, with blood dripping from his mouth. What shocked Jack was that his eyes were wide open. He walked closer and realized that Rhys’s chest wasn’t moving.

“No no no no no.” Jack said. He reached out to take control of Rhys’s systems and was sickened that there was no resistance from Rhys. He checked Rhys’s vitals and was horrified when it confirmed his suspicions. Rhys was dead. 

“Rhys no! You can’t do this to me goddammit!” Jack yelled, slapping Rhys even though his hand just went through the other man’s head. 

Dahl hadn’t even had the courtesy to drop his body back in Sanctuary. Once he had died they just packed up all of their stuff and left him there to rot. Jack had always thought that once Rhys died then he would too. That there would be nothing left to power the cybernetics that kept him “alive” and he would just fade from existence with Rhys.   
He was wrong.


End file.
